Full List Of Countries Where Indians Can Travel Right Now, And Where Indians Are Banned (July, 2021)

With the number of Covid-19 cases reducing gradually in India, paired with an uptick in the  vaccinated population, many countries are opening their boundaries with set compulsions to travelers from India. 

Many countries temporarily barred their boundaries for India starting mid April, post the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Despite an improvement in the Covid situation in India and travel curbs slowly lifting up, many countries are still practising caution towards the entry of Indian travelers.

Today, we bring to you a series of detailed lists which will cover the state of travel and travel requirements in different countries for people visiting from India.

Countries Allowing Indians

According to a circular published by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on June 30, the ban on international commercial flights is further extended till July 31. 

While the ban has been extended till July 31, dedicated cargo flights and commercial flights under the bilateral air bubble pacts with select countries will continue to operate.

These countries amount to 28 in number, which means Indian airlines can fly to and from these 28 countries.

While some of these countries had barred air travel for Indians due to the second wave of the pandemic, some lifted the ban later, while others are still not allowing Indian travelers. 

These 28 countries are:

• Afghanistan, 
• Bahrain, 
• Bangladesh, 
• Bhutan, 
• Canada, 
• Ethiopia, 
• France, 
• Germany, 
• Iraq, 
• Japan, 
• Kenya, 
• Kuwait, 
• Maldives, 
• Nepal, 
• Netherlands, 
• Nigeria, 
• Oman, 
• Qatar, 
• Russia, 
• Rwanda, 
• Seychelles, 
• Sri Lanka, 
• Tanzania, 
• Ukraine, 
• UAE, 
• UK, 
• Uzbekistan, and 
• US

Countries Not Allowing Indians at the Moment

While many countries are not allowing travelers from India at the moment, most of them have made exceptions for certain categories of travelers, like officials and bureaucrats of government order, students with international visas and the Vande Bharat flights, among others.

Countries Indian travelers cannot enter at the moment are:

• UAE: It has recently extended the ban for South Asian countries up till August 1. This means for India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Canada: The country has suspended commercial flights from India until August 21. It has also stated to allow fully vaccinated travelers (of ‘recognised’ vaccines) from all countries, starting September 7. 
• UK: On April 19, the country added India to its ‘red list’, which means people traveling from India will have to self-isolate for 10 days. Only a resident of the UK or Ireland, or a British citizen can enter the UK if they have been in India in the last 10 days.
• USA: It is not allowing anyone who has been in India for the last 14 days before arriving in the US, except those who can get approved under the National Interest Exception category from the Consulate.

Other countries which have currently barred air travel for India are:

• Iran, 
• Kuwait, 
• Indonesia, 
• Israel, 
• Hong Kong, 
• Singapore, 
• Australia, 
• New Zealand, 
• Bahrain, 
• Bangladesh, 
• Italy, 
• Oman, and 
• Djibouti.

Countries That Allow Indians to Enter Without Quarantine

While it is compulsory for Indian travelers to quarantine for a given number of days on entering into other countries, there are some countries which do not mandate this condition for Indian travelers.

These countries include:

• Kyrgyzstan, 
• Afghanistan, 
• Armenia, 
• Maldives, 
• Egypt, 
• Ethiopia, 
• Ghana, 
• Mali, 
• Mozambique, 
• Namibia, 
• Senegal, 
• South Africa, 
• Zambia, 
• Albania, 
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
• Russia, 
• Iceland, 
• Costa Rica, 
• Serbia, 
• Ecuador, 
• Paraguay, 
• Venezuela, 
• Nicaragua, 
• Guatemala, 
• Guyana, and 
• Honduras.

Please note that while these countries do not mandate an Indian traveler to quarantine on arrival, they do require for them to carry a negative RT-PCR report, generated no sooner than 72 hours before departure, in extension to other protocols respective to the country.

European Countries Allowing Vaxed Indians

The European Union runs a digital Covid certificate programme called the ‘green pass’ that acts as a screening measure for entry of travelers from different nations into the member countries.

Only passengers vaccinated by those vaccines listed in the green pass, approved by the European Medicines Agency are allowed in the EU countries.

Serum Institute of India’s Covishield falls under the list of accepted vaccines in the green pass, which allows Indians vaccinated with it, to enter into 16 European countries, under the green pass scheme.

These 16 EU countries are:

• France, 
• Austria, 
• Belgium, 
• Bulgaria, 
• Finland, 
• Germany, 
• Greece, 
• Hungary, 
• Iceland,
• Ireland, 
• Latvia, 
• Netherlands, 
• Slovenia, 
• Spain, 
• Sweden, and 
• Switzerland.

There could be some exceptions to the ones vaccinated under the green card scheme, like having to quarantine if required, that too by some EU countries. Besides, travelers may also have to carry a RT-PCR negative report with the test conducted no earlier than 72 hours from the flight.